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Video: Plane scare smoker returning to Qatar

Transcript of: Plane scare smoker returning to Qatar

BRIAN WILLIAMS, anchor:First reports that a man from a Middle Eastern tried to set off a
shoe bomb
from a
flight
last night from
Washington
to
Denver
. First reports are often wrong and so was this one, but it triggered a massive scare that spread through the flying skies across the country.
Fighter jets
were scrambled, passengers were frozen in place. In the end there was no bomb, just a combination of wrongdoing on the part of the passenger and a misunderstanding in the post-9/11 era of
zero tolerance
in our skies. Our report on what did happen from our justice correspondent
Pete Williams
. He's where the
flight
originated at
National Airport
in
Washington
.
Pete
, good evening.

PETE WILLIAMS reporting:Brian
, it happened on an
United Airlinesflight
that took off from here at
Reagan National Airport
. The trouble began when a passenger tried to sneak a smoke on
board
and then made a flippant and very unfortunate remark. It was a harrowing night for 157 passengers aboard a
United Airlinesflight
, though it ended safely.

Unidentified Man:It was quite an inconvenience but better than a tragedy.

P. WILLIAMS:Flight
663, a 757 like this one, was well on its way, about an hour from a scheduled stop in
Denver
before going on to
Las Vegas
, when a passenger in first class spent a long time in the bathroom.
Federal investigators
say when he came out, a
flight
attendant smelled smoke and notified two federal
air marshals
on
board
. They questioned the man, 27-year-old
Mohammed Al
-
Madadi
from the
Persian Gulf
nation of
Qatar
, assigned to its embassy in
Washington
. He was on official business to check on the treatment of a federal prisoner,
Ali Al-Marri
, convicted last year of being an
al-Qaedasleeper agent
in the US. When
Al-Madadi
was asked about his smoking in the bathroom, officials say, he replied sarcastically that he was,
quote
, "Trying to light my shoe on fire," and refused to give up his lighter. Taking no chances, the pilot sent an emergency message and the
FAA
immediately relayed warnings to other planes in the air, recorded by the
Web site
liveatc.net.

Offscreen Voice:Be advised, a
US air
carrier has reported a passenger has attempted to ignite his shoes on fire. All pilots are to maintain extra vigilance and report any anomalies immediately.

P. WILLIAMS:Passengers on other flights were told to stay seated and to put everything away.
CNBC
's
Scott Cohn
, flying last night on
Continental
to
New Jersey
, says the pilot gave more than one warning.

SCOTT COHN reporting:He came back on and said, `I just want to reiterate, you're not allowed to have anything on your laps, that -- and especially
cell phones
and computers. And if we find anything on your lap, I will divert the
flight
.'

P. WILLIAMS:And two
F-16fighter jets
, like these, were scrambled to escort the
Unitedflight
. Al-
Madadi
, who was wearing sandals, was searched but no explosives were found. A frequent critic of the
Department of Homeland Security
says the government's response was just right.

Representative PETER KING (Republican, New York):The
air marshals
from all that I know did exactly the right thing, and what he did was absolutely stupid and irresponsible.

P. WILLIAMS:The
Justice Department
has decided not to file charges, which would have been legally complicated because
Al-Madadi
has
diplomatic immunity
, but
Qatar
has agreed to send him packing back home by tomorrow.
Brian
:

The Department of Veterans Affairs' promise to end by 2015 its massive, benefits backlog for disabled veterans has "stalled," according to an analysis released Monday by a leading veterans' organization.